City Diner

I went to public school in a small town. I walked to school, by myself, when I was seven. I walked home, too, and stopped at the little old ladies’ house for warm pound cake and a reading of "City Mouse, Country Mouse."

No one locked their doors.

I ate my first school lunch in 1979: meatloaf, mashed potatoes with gravy, greens and a roll with a pint of whole milk. It cost 80 cents. This mini-autobiography explains one reason why I like City Diner. It reminds me of school lunch, which in my case, is not an insult.

If you are my age or older, then you ate school lunch in the days before the fast food and soda companies swept in to provide the meals and to subsidize the school’s budget. You’ll probably like City Diner, too.

"School meal programs began during the Great Depression of the 1930s. From the outset, they had two purposes: to help dispose of surplus agricultural commodities owned by the government as a result of price-support agreements with farmers, and to help prevent nutritional deficien (Full review)